Concert in your area for Rock, Folk & Blues, and Pop.
It would be too easy to focus on Adams’ astonishing commercial success to show his appeal. The millions of records sold, the longest running number one single in UK chart history, the Juno’s. Grammy’s. Golden Globes. Oscar nominations. Ivor Novello’s. However, I don’t think that a simple list of awards and sales statistics quite covers just how vital an artist Bryan Adams was and remains to be to this day.
I think to truly get it one has to look at the man’s global influence. One has to look at how his music can be played and truly loved in pretty much equal measure from his native Kingston, Ontario, to the farest reaches of Nepal.
His is music that transcends culture and language, and that makes him one of very few musicians in pop history to truly realize the universal qualities of rock and roll, and that’s saying something.
“Summer of ‘69”? “Heaven”? “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”? It would take someone with a heart of stone not to love those songs, from his primal, party starting rockers to his elegant, tear jerking ballads.
In all, what Adams has achieved is shown in how people all around the world have embraced his music. Quite simply, he’s still playing and writing some of the best rock and roll music that the great white north has ever had to offer to this day, and there’s never been a better time to join in than right now.
Pat Benetar, born, Patricia Mae Andrzejwski, is originally from Greenpoint, Brooklyn in New York City. With a passion for music and theatre early on in life at the age of eight, Benetar began singing lessons, singing in every school production that she could. She later had the opportunity to enrol at one of the best arts schools in the world, Julliard, but decided that she didn’t want to embark on that particular career path, so studied Health Education instead. Through a couple of twists and turns, and entering a talent competition where she sang a rock song and won, she found herself recording commercial jingles for Pepsi, which is where she finally got noticed and went on to record the huge hit album, “In the Heat of the Night” which was released in 1979, and reached #12 in the US. It was only the catalyst of what would turn into a 30 plus year career, seeing her sell upwards of 30 million albums to date, becoming a huge international success, releasing 30 plus singles, fifteen of them being top 40, and maintaining such a stellar reputation to this day.
Her career doesn’t stop at music as her song “We Belong” was part of a $20 million campaign for Sheraton Hotels, and is now a commercial spokeswoman for the Energizer company.
What makes a Bryan Adams show so great? So many things, for sure, as it is a testament that I am willing to travel the world to see this man perform. I love the simplicity and focus on music, love the tee shirt jeans look with his guitar up front, then opening his voice is just like a door into paradise.
I am one of the thousands of 50ish something women who have followed BA since the early 1980's and have high expectations of going to any one of his shows and for me the one memory that sicks is the show I went to in Melbourne Australia where I had paid thousands of dollars to have front row seats for me and my bestie, and Bryan spoke to me... I was sure that in that moment if I HAD DIED I would have been as happy as I could be.
I see Bryan as a man who is dedicated to his work and his passion is constantly showing through in his tunes, he plays all the old favorites and is forever delighting fans with new songs. The only thing worth saying you should expect when going to a BA show is to be taken on a journey, and for me the songs make various moments in my past come alive again for a few moments and the new songs give me a glimpse into what might well be another favorite song.
Living in Aus is a pain waiting for Bryan to tour so a couple years ago I moved to the UK and one of the main reasons was so I could see the BA show more often and I have been to many concerts in many different countries and venues including the Albert Hall (love the fact it is so much easier to get good tickets in the UK without having to pay a arm and a leg).
Pat Benetar is a rock legend. She and Neil Giraldo still put on a great show, three dozen years after they started. Pat's voice is still in good shape, and both she and Neil tell the history of their songs through the course of the night.
Among the series of hits they played were (not in order):
Invincible
Promises In the Dark
Hell is for Children
We Belong
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Love Is a Battlefield
As you get toward the end of the night, there's more of a sing-along than a concert, but that's not their fault. :-)
I'd recommend the show to any fan of her music -- so many hits, delivered with the power of a legend.
My disdain for my parents' favorite "oldies" station abruptly ceased when Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" graced my ears at age 9. 10 years later, my dream came true when I saw her in concert for my birthday. Though Benatar was reluctant to play "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," her passion pervaded the rest of her chart toppers - especially while hitting all the VERY high notes. She performs with great energy next to her beloved Spyder. Their chemistry definitely enhances the show.